OBJECTIVETo study and compare the changes of toxicity of Euphorbia pekinensis, E. kansui and E. ebracteolata before and after being prepared by vinegar.

METHODSmall intestinal accentuation of mice and peritoneal macrophage NO release experiments were assessed to investigate the changes of toxicity of the three Chinese Medicines of Euphorbia before and after being prepared.

RESULTE. pekinensis, E. kansui and E. ebracteolata and vinegar can obviously promot small intestinal accentuation and peritoneal macrophage NO release with the intensity of toxicity in the order of E. kansui > E. pekinensis > E. ebracteolata. After being prepared with vinegar, the toxicity of the three medicines decreased obviously compared to crude one.

CONCLUSIONE. pekinensis, E. kansui and E. ebracteolata can induce inflammation and accelerate enterokinesis. After being prepared with vinegar, the irritation on Euphorbia decreased obviously.

Acetic Acid ; chemistry ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; toxicity ; Euphorbia ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Female ; Intestine, Small ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Macrophages, Peritoneal ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Nitric Oxide ; analysis ; metabolism ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; toxicity ; Toxicity Tests

Objective:To survey bone age, vitamin A, vitamin D and IGF-1 levels among stunted children, and to explore the clinical values.Methods:The experimental group was composed of 200 stunted children who visited the growth retardation clinic of Jiangning Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University between October 2017 and October 2019.The control group consisted of 200 children of normal height during the same period.The differences of developmental level, the qualified rates of serum vitamin A and vitamin D, and the number of the children whose serum IGF-1 at or above the median and their corresponding measurements were compared between the two groups.Results:Totally, 26% of the experimental group fell behind normal children by two years in their bone ages, as compared with 12% of control group.The differences in developmental levels of bone ages between the two groups were statistically significant( χ2=12.74, t=5.42、7.92, P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had obviously lower rates of vitamin A and vitamin D levels( χ2=26.85、13.65, t=8.45、12.47, P<0.01). A total of 88 children (44%) of the experimental group had serum IGF-1 levels at or above the median, as compared with 138 children (69%) of the control group( χ2=25.43, t=32.31, P<0.01). Conclusion:This finding supports the potential use of the bone age, vitamin A and D status and IGF-1 levels in growth retardation screening among children.

Objective To assess the association between-426C＞T,-384A＞G,+ 67G＞A polymorphisms in Eotaxin gene and cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) in infants.Methods One hundred and six patients with CMPA who were hospitalized at Children's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from July 2014 to July 2015 were selected as CMPA group,and 124 healthy infants chosen from Ninghai Road Community Health Service Centers at the same time were selected as healthy control group,and the serum levels of Eotaxin in 2 groups were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA direct sequencing technology were used to detect the genotypes for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of-426C ＞ T,-384A ＞ G,and + 67G ＞ A in Eotaxin gene.The association between the SNPs of-426C ＞ T,-384A ＞ G,and + 67G ＞ A in Eotaxin gene and CMPA,the peripheral blood eosinophil counts,serum Eotaxin levels,and serum total immunoglobulin E levels were analyzed.Results For-426C ＞ T,the frequency of each genotype of the CMPA group was CC,CT,TF (79.25％,19.81％,0.94％),while the frequency of each genotype of the healthy control group was CC,CT,TT(88.71％,8.06％,3.23％).There was a significant difference in the genotype frequency in-426C ＞ T between the CMPA group and the healthy control group (x2 =7.83,P ＜ 0.05).The individuals with heterozygous genotype(CT) had a 1.75-fold increased risk of developing CMPA compared with the individuals with wild-type genotype (CC) [odds ratio (OR) =2.75,95％ confidence interval(CI):1.23-6.15,P ＜ 0.05].For position + 67G ＞ A,CMPA patients with a genotype including variant nucleotide had lower peripheral blood eosinophil counts [(0.48 ± 0.06) × 109/L] and serum Eotaxin levels [(157.67 ± 12.72) ng/L] than those with wild-type genotype [(0.85 ± 0.09) × 109/L,(286.96 ± 33.23) ng/L] (F =10.30,5.75,all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Polymorphism of the Eotaxin gene (-426C ＞ T) was associated with the susceptibility to CMPA.Polymorphism of the Eotaxin gene(+ 67G ＞ A) was related to the blood eosinophil counts and the serum Eotaxin levels in children with CMPA.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant therapy modality can increase the operability rate and mitigate pathological risks in locally advanced cervical cancer, but treatment response varies widely. It remains unclear whether genetic alterations correlate with the response to neoadjuvant therapy and disease-free survival (DFS) in locally advanced cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 62 locally advanced cervical cancer (stage IB-IIA) patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiation plus radical hysterectomy were retrospectively analyzed. Patients’ tumor biopsy samples were comprehensively profiled using targeted next generation sequencing. Pathologic response to neoadjuvant treatment and DFS were evaluated against the association with genomic traits. Results: Genetic alterations of PIK3CA were most frequent (37%), comparable to that of Caucasian populations from The Cancer Genome Atlas. The mutation frequency of genes including TERT, POLD1, NOS2, and FGFR3 was significantly higher in Chinese patients whereas RPTOR, EGFR, and TP53 were underrepresented in comparison to Caucasians. Germline mutations were identified in 21% (13/62) of the cohort and more than half (57%) had mutations in DNA damage repair genes, including BRCA1/2, TP53 and PALB2. Importantly, high tumor mutation burden, TP53 polymorphism (rs1042522), and KEAP1 mutations were found to be associated with poor pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation treatment. KEAP1 mutations, PIK3CA-SOX2 co-amplification, TERC copy number gain, and TYMS polymorphism correlated with an increased risk of disease relapse. Conclusion We report the genomic profile of locally advanced cervical cancer patients and the distinction between Asian and Caucasian cohorts. Our findings highlight genomic traits associated with unfavorable neoadjuvant chemoradiation response and a higher risk of early disease recurrence.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is characterized by abdominal pain associated with changes in defecation frequency and blood folate level. FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols. High-FODMAP diet could elicit or exacerbate IBS-associated bowel symptoms, which is inadequately recognized among gastroenterologists in China. Here we report an IBS case, focusing on the association between high-FODMAP diet and bowel symptoms and the intervention of low-FODMAP diet.

Objective To investigate the influencing factors of adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with preeclampsia and the predictive value of serum trace elements in the second trimester.Methods A total of 98 patients with preeclampsia admitted to Qujing First People's Hospital from January 2019 to June 2022 were enrolled in the study.Patients were divided into poor outcome group and good outcome group according to whether they had adverse pregnancy outcomes.The clinical data of all patients enrolled in the study were col-lected and the serum levels of trace elements calcium,copper,zinc and iron were detected in the second trimes-ter.Univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression were used to analyze the influencing factors of ad-verse pregnancy outcomes in patients with preeclampsia.The levels of serum trace elements in the second tri-mester of pregnancy were compared between the poor outcome group and the good outcome group.The re-ceiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of serum trace elements calcium,copper,zinc and iron for adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with preeclampsia.Results Univari-ate analysis showed that compared with the good outcome group,the poor outcome group had significantly higher systolic blood pressure,24 h urinary protein quantitation,and D-dimer level(P＜0.05)and significantly less gestational age and platelet count at admission(P＜0.05).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that 24 h urinary protein quantification,D-dimer and platelet count were the influencing factors of ad-verse pregnancy outcomes in patients with preeclampsia(P＜0.05).The levels of serum trace elements calci-um,copper,and zinc in the poor outcome group were significantly lower than those in the good outcome group(P＜0.05),and the level of iron was significantly higher than that in the good outcome group(P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the areas under the curves(AUCs)of serum calcium,copper,zinc,and iron in the second trimester of pregnancy for predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes in preeclampsia patients were 0.830(95％CI:0.780-0.880),0.855(95％CI:0.805-0.905),0.847(0.797-0.897)and 0.861(95％CI:0.811-0.911),respectively.Conclusion Adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with preeclampsia are re-lated to 24 h urine protein,D-dimer and platelet count.The levels of serum trace elements calcium,copper,zinc and iron in the second trimester of pregnancy change significantly in patients with adverse pregnancy out-comes,which may become predictive markers of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

OBJECTIVE To identify the chemical composition of Xiaoshi granules， and investigate its potential mechanism of action in the treatment of functional dyspepsia （FD）. METHODS Firstly， ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to analyze the composition of the Xiaoshi granules， and then network pharmacology was used to screen the potential targets of the Xiaoshi granules for the treatment of FD. Molecular docking of core components and targets was performed by using AutoDock Tools 1.5.6 software. RESULTS A total of 53 major chemical components， mainly flavonoids and organic acids， were identified from Xiaoshi granules. Network pharmacology screened core components such as quercetin， isorhamnetin， kaempferol and rutin， six core targets such as estrogen receptor （ESR1）， signal transducer and activator of transcription （STAT3）， androgen receptor（AR）， cellular tumor antigen （TP53）， hypoxia-inducible factor 1 subunit α in breast cancer tissue（HIF1A）， proto-oncogene tyrosine protein kinase （SRC）， and obtained major signaling pathways such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）-protein kinase B （Akt）， advanced glycosylation products （AGE）-receptor for advanced glycosylation end products （RAGE）， mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK）. The molecular docking results showed good docking activity between the core components and the core targets. CONCLUSIONS Xiaoshi granules may act on STAT3， HIF1A， SRC and other targets through quercetin， isorhamnetin， kaempferol and other active ingredients to regulate PI3K- Akt， AGE-RAGE， MAPK and other signal pathways， thus exerting its therapeutic effect on FD.

Zearalenone (ZEN) and its derivatives are non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxins mainly produced by Fusarium species. They are widely distributed in grain feeds originated from maize, barley, wheat and sorghum, causing serious harm to animal and human health. Currently, there is a pressing need of an efficient technology for ZEN degradation and detoxification. Because traditional physical and chemical methods could not effectively detoxify ZEN in grains, and might also affect the grain nutrients and food taste, and even result in secondary pollution, the biological technologies are developed to detoxify ZEN and its derivatives. In this paper, we reviewed the structure of ZEN and its derivatives, the fungi and bacteria species with ability of degradation of ZEN. In addition, the characterization, protein sequences and conformation of currently identified ZEN degrading enzymes, the only solved ZHD structure from Clonostachys rose were analyzed and compared, and the enzymes heterologous expression and application were also reviewed. This review will provide reference for reducing the cost of ZEN degrading enzymes by biological technologies such as enzyme engineering and fermentation engineering.

Receptors, Purinergic ; Signal Transduction/physiology*

ObjectiveBased on the experience of traditional quality evaluation， the quality of Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma（AMR） with different production methods such as direct seeding， transplanting after seedling raising， topping and non-topping， and difference in growth years was compared. MethodVernier caliper was used to measure the trait data of AMR in different production methods. Paraffin sections of AMR with different production methods were made by saffron solid green staining， and the microstructure was observed. The contents of water-soluble and alcohol-soluble extracts in AMR with different production methods were determined according to the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The content of water-soluble total polysaccharides in AMR with different production methods was detected by sulfuric acid-anthrone method. Fiber analyzer was used to detect the content of fiber components in AMR with different production methods. The contents of monosaccharides， oligosaccharides and some secondary metabolites in AMR with different production methods were detected by ultra performance liquid chromatography（UPLC）， and the differences of chemical components were compared by multivariate statistical analysis methods such as principal component analysis（PCA） and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA）. ResultIn terms of traits， the 3-year-old AMR with direct seeding and without topping was close to the high-quality AMR with "phoenix-head and crane-neck， strong sweetness and clear aroma" recorded in ancient materia medica， followed by the 3-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting， while the 2-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting with high market circulation rate was generally fat and strong with mild odor. In the microscopic aspect， the arrangement of xylem vessels and fiber bundles in the 3-year-old samples formed two obvious rings. Compared with the 2-year-old samples cultivated in Bozhou and Zhejiang， the 3-year-old samples without topping after transplanting had more wood fibers. In terms of chemical composition， the contents of 70% ethanol extract， fructose， glucose， sucrose， 1-kestose， atractylenolide Ⅰ， chlorogenic acid， neochlorogenic acid， cryptochlorogenic acid and other components in 3-year-old AMR with direct seeding and without topping were significantly higher than those in the other three samples（P<0.05）. The contents of cellulose， 70% ethanol extract， sucrose， atractylenolide Ⅰ， atractylone and other components in 3-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting were significantly higher than those in the 2-year-old AMR with high market circulation rate（P<0.05）， while the contents of water-soluble extract and water-soluble total polysaccharides in 2-year-old samples with topping after transplanting were significantly higher than those in the 3-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting， direct seeding and without topping（P<0.05）. ConclusionUnder the current mainstream production mode， too much manual intervention makes AMR heavily enriched in polysaccharides and increased the yield， but the accumulation of sweet substances， fragrant substances and fiber substances is insufficient， which affects its quality. The current quality standard of AMR has some shortcomings in guiding the high quality production of it， it is suggested to revise the quality standard of AMR， supplement the quantitative analysis of secondary metabolites， and strengthen the production of imitation wild AMR.